District of Miami grade holds steady

County maintains consistency despite tougher standards

According to information released from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE), Miami-Dade County public schools have maintained a B district grade, while nearly 60 percent of other Florida school districts have dropped, at least one letter grade. The news of an over-all consistent district performance comes after reports of increased standards and tougher standardized tests like the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) this year, had dampened hopes of seeing an increase in individual school grades. Nevertheless, MDCPS appears to have every right to be very proud of the achievement, according Miami-Dades superintendent of schools. In the face of both a more difficult FCAT and higher cut scores, our district managed to hold its own and actually did better than many of Floridas large school districts, Miami Dade Superintendent of Schools, Alberto M. Carvalho, said. Our teachers, our students and our community have much to be proud of. Last year, the FLDOE transitioned from the FCAT to FCAT 2.0, which introduced a whole new test for the reading and mathematical portion. According to the Administrative Director of Assessment, Research and Data Analysis for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Isela Seild, the county knew about the anticipated negative effects that came with changing the test. The test was harder we knew that, Seild said. We prepared teachers as much as we could. It is safe to say, given the districts consistent grade, that the preparations appear to have paid off. Additional information released from the FLDOE reports that district grades for 28 districts remained the same, while grades for the other 39 districts declined. By Julia Samuelsjsamuels@miamitimesonline.com